Bandai Smartpet Robot Dog - Interactive AI Robotic Pet Toy for Kids, White - Perfect for Playtime, STEM Learning & Family Fun

The Japanese version of the app software is called Smartpet, which we mistakenly downloaded first and it makes the toy pretty much inoperable for English speakers. So after some online searching, I found out the English/U.S. version is called "Tech Pet". We downloaded that through the iPhone App Store and now it works great. My 7 y.o. and 4 y.o. sons love it. Tech Pet does tricks, moves around, has games, and gets to be fed/groomed/etc... The only thing I don't like is that you have to play with it a lot to unlock many of it's features. After already paying full price for something (vs. in-app purchases, which btw this does NOT have, thank goodness) - why should I have to work harder to play with all of it??? And wouldn't I want to play with it more if it did more things??? I'm not sure why the programmers included the unlocking aspect, so I downgraded my review from 5 stars to 4. Still recommended for all those kids out there who love robots. This is a good one.OK. So the package arrived with mostly Japanese instruction on the box and in user manual. But basically all you need to do is put the batteries in the dog, find the suitable case included in the box for your iOS device and put it in the holder. Then plugin the audio plug in the headphone jack. Remember to slide the switch to 1. The dog will walk a couple steps as soon as you switch it on. That is it. After that you just follow the instruction in the app which is all English.The US version of the app is called techpet not smartpet (seen in the Japanese instruction). You touch and hold the dogs nose to get the main menu. From there you can check the current condition of the dog and feed her, wash her, train her to do tricks and so on. This is from the same company that gives us tamagotchi. If you played that you know the drills.It is fun once you get it figured out and it starts to walk and wag its tail!I purchased this a few months ago from Amazon and haven't been able to use it. I don't know why they're still selling them on the U.S. Amazon website. The app that you MUST have to use this toy is only available in the Japanese iTunes store. The app CANNOT be downloaded from the U.S. iTunes store. I sent an email to Bandai and the response that I got back was that basically they have no plans to release a U.S. version of the app to run this toy. If you live in the U.S. and have no plans on visiting Japan and learning Japanese, don't buy it.I noticed today that there's another version of this toy called Tech pet virtual pet by Tech Pet. It looks the same as the smart pet by Bandai. There is an App in the US iTunes app store called TechPet but I am traveling away from home at the moment so I can't verify if this TechPet app works with the Bandai SmartPet. The maker of the TechPet app in the iTunes store says Bandai however. When I get a chance I'll try it out and see if it works, unless someone else beats me to it and writes a review here.This was the ultimate surprise gift. My daughter had read about this in class in the latest inventions. Thinking it was only a prototype and not available for sale in the United States, she couldn't believe her eyes when she opened it.The instructions are in Japanese with graphics which are very simple to follow. My daughter and I went on-line to YouTube to understand all the opertations and commands.I would recommend this fun, interactive gift.I was a little nervous about purchasing from Japan importer but the transaction was great. Fast shipping and not one issue. :)We bought this for our daughter who was convinced she wanted it for her birthday. After we figured out how to work it (the instructions were in Japanese) she tired of it after one day. It's a cute toy, but not worth the money spent!I just read some of the reviews and want to tell everyone. We use the app tech pet with the toy. It works just fine.Complete waste of money. Bought it as a present for daughter - she insisted she wanted it in spite of my advice that she would be disappointed. It might have been better were the instructions not in Japanese, but I doubt it. It was used for not much more than an hour, if that.Lack of instruction especially in english.Complicated to use.Not intended for young children.The item was well protected and received in good condition.Loads of fun for small kids. Very easy to use. But having to leave your iPhone in there is a bit of a concern.Man sollte Englisch können und Geduld haben, es müssen verschiedene Level erreicht werden, die bestimmte Funktionen freischalten.Wer Lust am Spielen hat, wird viel Spass haben, für den Preis ein tolles Gadget.Gadget sans aucun intérêt. Les enfants entre 10 et 12 ans s en sont très vite lassés. Rien d exceptionnel malgré un prix élevé pour un bout de plastiqueiphone4がないと使えないという記載が無かった。iphone4を持っていなかったので返品した。スマートペットなるアプリが無い。アイホン10では操作出来ない！電池入れても動かない。